Field Level Media
Aug 4, 2020
Nelson Cruz went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and Jose Berrios picked up his first victory of the season as the Minnesota Twins won their fifth straight game, 7-3, over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Eddie Rosario had two hits and two RBIs, and Max Kepler walked a career-high four times and scored twice for the Twins, who finished their eight-game homestand with a 7-1 mark.
Berrios (1-1) allowed one run on four hits and three walks over six innings while striking out six. Trevor May got the final two outs for his first save.
Joe Musgrove (0-3) took the loss for Pittsburgh, allowing five runs on six hits and five walks in 3 1/3 innings. Erik Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored, and Phillip Evans had three hits and an RBI for the Pirates, who lost their sixth consecutive game.
Minnesota jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning with three hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly. Kepler led off with a walk and advanced to third after an error by Jarrod Dyson on Cruz's single. Rosario followed with an RBI single to drive in Kepler, then Cruz scored on a double by Miguel Sano. Rosario later scored on a sacrifice fly by Luis Arraez.
After Cruz made it 4-0 in the second with a bases-loaded single to drive in Byron Buxton, the Pirates cut it to 4-1 in the fourth when Bryan Reynolds tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gregory Polanco.
The Twins extended their lead to 7-1 on an RBI single by Rosario in the fourth and back-to-back sacrifice flies by Buxton and Kepler in the fifth.
Pittsburgh closed out the scoring with a pair of RBI singles by John Ryan Murphy and Evans in the ninth.
The contest was delayed for nine minutes in the top of the fifth inning when a drone flew above the fence in center field. Both teams returned to their dugouts before the drone, the target of a few baseballs from players in the nearby bullpen, eventually flew away to a nearby parking structure.
--Field Level Media